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O'Brien used bye week to rest, assess

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There was no game to talk about, no strategy - failed or successful - to debate.

Bill O'Brien spent last Saturday night at a four-hour-long Little League game in Lewistown. When he got home, he flipped back and forth between the Ohio State-Wisconsin game and the battle between Harvard and his alma mater, Brown.

Even during the hustle and bustle of college football season, Penn State's head coach knows a Saturday like that is needed. It's a time to heal. A time to review.

The Nittany Lions were off last week - their first of two bye weeks this season - but despite the otherwise relaxing gameday, that doesn't mean they didn't accomplish anything with the Big Ten slate scheduled to open in Indiana on Saturday.

"Bye weeks are important," O'Brien said. "It was important for everybody, coaches included, to take a step back and analyze everything. Also, for your guys to be able to practice without the pressure of having a game on Saturday and then to be able at the end of the week to go home."

The timing of this one - coming directly after the nonconference schedule and before the conference slate - was especially important for Penn State, O'Brien said.

It gave the Nittany Lions a chance to heal up from the first four games, physically. But the biggest benefits may have been ones reaped by the coaching staff.

O'Brien said the coaching staff met and reviewed the first four weeks of games, knowing that a team's identity is largely formed in the season's first month.

They sought out heavy tendencies they might want to get away from once conference games start. They studied what worked and what didn't in certain downs and distances.

They even took a look at individual players, trying to ascertain ways to get them better on gamedays by changing the way they practice.

Of course, he added that bye weeks are only as productive as the results they produce when teams return to the field again. The Nittany Lions will have to wait a few days to show those benefits.

"I think we had a productive bye week," O'Brien said. "Again, exactly how productive was the bye week, the proof will be in the pudding on Saturday against Indiana."

Picture of health

O'Brien reported few injury concerns coming off the bye week, giving his team a relative clean bill of health as it prepares for Indiana.

In fact, only two players have been ruled out. One, as expected, is safety and special teams maven Ryan Keiser, who injured his hand against Kent State on Sept. 21. O'Brien said he has a chance to return for the Michigan game next weekend.

The other player who won't play is backup fullback Jack Haffner, a State College High School grad who sprained his ankle last week.

For the first time since injuring his knee against Syracuse in the season opener, linebacker Mike Hull won't appear on the injury report, and O'Brien is confident he's healthy enough to make an impact for the first time this season.

"It looked to me as of (Monday) that he was moving around better," O'Brien said. "He feels better, but he's just a tough guy and a Penn State linebacker. That's how you describe him. It's good to have him back in there."

Comeback kid?

There seems to be at least a possibility that Penn State fans haven't seen the last of tight end Matt Lehman in blue and white.

O'Brien said it's likely Penn State will seek a medical redshirt for the gifted senior, who tore up his knee in the first half of the Syracuse game and will miss the rest of the season.

"Obviously, we are looking into it, and we would love for it to work out," O'Brien said.

The NCAA can grant a medical redshirt to a player injured in the first two weeks of a season whose injury keeps him out of the remainder of his team's games. Last season, after he was injured in the first half of the second game against Virginia, linebacker Nyeem Wartman was awarded a medical redshirt season, essentially restoring what would have been a lost year of eligibility.

O'Brien said things might be more complicated with Lehman, though. Lehman transferred to Penn State from Shippensburg, and O'Brien said that transfer might complicate matters in the NCAA's eyes.

Nittany notes

Penn State announced that the Oct. 12 game against Michigan, which is the homecoming game, has sold out. ... With Keiser out, O'Brien said punter Alex Butterworth will serve as kicker Sam Ficken's holder on field goals and extra points. ... Penn State has won all 16 of its meetings against Indiana since it joined the Big Ten. ... The Hoosier are also coming off of their bye week.

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